Carley Across the Pond – New Elite Football Tournament pits England among the best in the world

New Elite Football Tournament pits England among the best in the world

The England Lionesses will face World Cup winners USA, and European champions Germany and France in a new elite four-team event. England is currently ranked fifth in the world and will be competing with the top three teams on the planet in the SheBelieves Cup that the USA is hosting this March. The Cup will take place from 3-9 March in the southeastern United States, and will be the globe’s premier women’s football tournament in advance of the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro.

The SheBelieves Cup is also a showcase event for the #SheBelieves campaign, which is a movement to inspire young girls and encourage them to accomplish their goals and dreams. The campaign launched in the run-up to the 2015 Women’s World Cup and has grown ever since.

The tournament means England will not be competing in the Cyprus Cup as they normally do; however, they defeated Canada 1-0 in last year’s cup. England’s head coach, Mark Sampson, is very pleased to be a part of the tournament and stated, “The opportunity to compete against the three best teams in the world is a crucial step in providing more opportunities for the team to develop.”

Sampson has also recently agreed to a new two-year deal, which will include the 2019 World Cup. Sampson took the Lionesses to third place at the World Cup in Canada last summer and took third in FIFA’s women’s football world coach of the year award, losing out to USA World Cup-winning coach Jill Ellis.

The Lionesses will start off the first day of the Cup taking on the number one ranked USA on 3 March in Florida. And will then travel to Tennessee to take on Germany on 6 March and will come back to Florida on 9 March to play France in the last match of the tournament. Good luck Lionesses!